Which is correct, and why?
some days we went on adventures — him maneuvering our scooter, me resting my chin …
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some days we went on adventures — he maneuvering our scooter, I resting my chin …
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choster
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2both are acceptable if you read them thus: [with] him ... [with] me ... / he [would be] ... I [would be] ... – Leon Conrad Feb 24 '14 at 21:36
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What @Leon said. But certainly in this specific context, I would prefer the first version (the second sounds a bit "stilted"). "We travelled all night - him driving, me sleeping". I can find that on the Net, but not the alternative version. – FumbleFingers Feb 25 '14 at 00:40
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They are examples of absolute constructions:
Absolute construction From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
In linguistics, an absolute construction is a grammatical construction standing apart from a normal or usual syntactical relation with other words or sentence elements. It can be a non-finite clause that is subordinate in form and modifies an entire sentence, an adjective or possessive pronoun standing alone without a modified substantive, or a transitive verb when its object is implied but not stated. The term absolute derives from Latin absolūtum, meaning "loosened from" or "separated" ...
Example Usages [absolute constructions in italics]:
Being a word, phrase, or construction that is isolated syntactically from the rest of a sentence:
this being the case, let us go
The referee having finally arrived, the game began....
Weather permitting, we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
[and examples not using an ing-clause:]
- Tremulous, the poor lad sat and watched. [standalone short adjectives sound unnatural]
- Mine now, the collection will be put on display to the public.
- All things considered, it's not a bad idea. [Wikipedia]
- With the referee finally on the pitch, the game began.
More obviously related to the original example is
The game began, the referee having finally arrived."
Usually, the noun group before the -ing form does not inflect for case, but this rare use of inflecting pronouns poses a problem. I'd agree with Leon that it's hard to make a decision between nominative and accusative, with the absolute construction being 'self-contained' and almost certainly elliptical. Informality would argue against using the nominative pronouns here, but then informality would argue against using either alternative:
some days we went on adventures – he would manoeuvre our scooter while I rested my chin ...
Edwin Ashworth
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